L-Theanine-Treated Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviate the Cytotoxicity Induced by N-Nitrosodiethylamine in Liver

Lai Yun-Ju,Sung Yi-Ting,Lai Yi-An,Chen Li-Nian,Chen Tung-Sheng,Chien Chiang-Ting 한국조직공학과 재생의학회 2022 조직공학과 재생의학 Vol.19 No.6

BACKGROUND: Liver inflammation is the main cause of severe liver diseases, including liver fibrosis, steatohepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Cell therapy topics are receiving increasingly more attention. The therapeutic applications of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have become one of the most discussed issues. While other stem cells have therapeutic effects, they have only one or two clinical applications. MSCs are responsible for repairing a variety of tissue injuries. Moreover, MSCs could be derived from several sources, including adipose tissue. MSCs are usually more abundant and easier to obtain compared to other stem cells. METHODS: To prove the concept that MSCs have homing ability to the injured tissue and assist in tissue repair, we examined the effects of intravenous injected adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) in a N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN)-induced liver injury rat model. RESULTS: The significant repairing ability of ADSCs was observed. The levels of fibrosis, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis in the DEN-injured liver tissues all decreased after ADSC treatment. Furthermore, to enhance the therapeutic effects of ADSCs, we pretreated them with L-theanine, which promotes the hepatocyte growth factor secretion of ADSC, and therefore improved the healing effects on injured liver tissue. CONCLUSION: ADSCs, especially L-theanine-pretreated ADSCs, have anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, and anti-tumorigenesis effects on the N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced liver injury rat model.

Isolation and characterization of the C-class MADS-box gene from the distylous pseudo-cereal Fagopyrum esculentum

Lai-Yun Li,Zheng-Wu Fang,Xiao-Fang Li,Zhi-Xiong Liu 한국식물학회 2017 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.60 No.2

In the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, the floral homeotic C-class gene AGAMOUS (AG) specifies reproductive organ (stamen and carpels) identity and floral meristem determinacy. Gene function analyses in other core eudicots species reveal functional conservation, subfunctionalization and function switch of the C-lineage in this clade. To identify the possible roles of AG-like genes in regulating floral development in distylous species with dimorphic flowers (pin and thrum) and the C function evolution, we isolated and identified an AG ortholog from Fagopyrum esculentum (buckwheat, Family Polygonaceae), an early diverging species of core eudicots preceding the rosids-asterids split. Protein sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis grouped FaesAG into the euAG lineage. Expression analysis suggested that FaesAG expressed exclusively in developing stamens and gynoecium of pin and thrum flowers. Moreover, FaesAG expression reached a high level in both pin and thrum flowers at the time when the stamens were undergoing rapidly increased in size and microspore mother cells were in meiosis. FaesAG was able to substitute for the endogenous AG gene in specifying stamen and carpel identity and in an Arabidopsis ag-1 mutant. Ectopic expression of FaesAG led to very early flowering, and produced a misshapen inflorescence and abnormal flowers in which sepals had converted into carpels and petals were converted to stamens. Our results confirmed establishment of the complete C-function of the AG orthologous gene preceding the rosids-asterids split, despite the distinct floral traits present in early- and late-diverging lineages of core eudicot angiosperms.

DEPTOR Expression Negatively Correlates with mTORC1 Activity and Tumor Progression in Colorectal Cancer

Lai, Er-Yong,Chen, Zhen-Guo,Zhou, Xuan,Fan, Xiao-Rong,Wang, Hua,Lai, Ping-Lin,Su, Yong-Chun,Zhang, Bai-Yu,Bai, Xiao-Chun,Li, Yun-Feng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.11

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is upregulated in the pathogenesis of many cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). DEPTOR is an mTOR inhibitor whose expression is negatively regulated by mTOR. However, the role of DEPTOR in the development of CRC is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of DEPTOR and mTORC1 activity (P-S6) in a subset of CRC patients and determine their relation to tumor differentiation, invasion, nodal metastasis and disease-free survival. Here, Immunohistochemical expression of P-S6 (S235/236) and DEPTOR were evaluated in 1.5 mm tumor cores from 90 CRC patients and in 90 samples of adjacent normal mucosa by tissue microarray. The expression of P-S6 (S235/236) was upregulated in CRC, with the positive rate of P-S6 (S235/236) in CRC (63.3%) significantly higher than that in control tissues (36.7%, 30%) (p<0.05). P-S6 (S235/236) also correlated with high tumor histologic grade (p=0.002), and positive nodal metastasis (p=0.002). In contrast, the expression level of DEPTOR was correlated with low tumor histological grade (p=0.006), and negative nodal metastasis (p=0.001). Interestingly, P-S6 (S235/236) expression showed a significant negative association with the expression of DEPTOR in CRC (p=0.011, R= -0.279). However, upregulation of P-S6 (S235/236) (p=0.693) and downregulation of DEPTOR (p=0.331) in CRC were not significantly associated with overall survival. Thus, we conclude that expression of DEPTOR negatively correlates with mTORC1 activity and tumor progression in CRC. DEPTOR is a potential marker for prognostic evaluation and a target for the treatment of CRC.

3D-quantitative structure–activity relationship and antiviral effects of curcumin derivatives as potent inhibitors of infl uenza H1N1 neuraminidase

Yanni Lai,Yiwen Yan,Shanghui Liao,Yun Li,Yi Ye,Ni Liu,Fang Zhao,Peiping Xu 대한약학회 2020 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.43 No.5

Curcumin derivatives have been shown to inhibitreplication of human infl uenza A viruses (IAVs). However, itis not clear whether curcumin and its derivatives can inhibitneuraminidase (NA) of influenza virus. In this study, ameaningful 3D quantitative structure–activity relationshipmodel (comparative molecular fi eld analysis R 2 = 0.997,q 2 = 0.527, s = 0.064, F = 282.663) was built to understandthe chemical–biological interactions between their activitiesand neuraminidase. Molecular docking was used to predictbinding models between curcumin derivatives and neuraminidase. Real-time polymerase chain reactions showed thatthe fi ve active curcumin derivatives might have direct eff ectson viral particle infectivity in H1N1-infected lung epithelial(MDCK) cells. Neuraminidase activation assay showed thatfi ve active curcumin derivatives decreased H1N1-inducedneuraminidase activation in MDCK cells. Indirect immunofluorescence assay indicated that two active curcuminderivatives (tetramethylcurcumin and curcumin) down-regulatedthe nucleoprotein expression. Curcumin inhibited IAVin vivo. The therapeutic mechanism of curcumin in the treatmentof infl uenza viral pneumonia is related to improvingthe immune function of infected mice and regulating secretionof tumor necrosis-α, interleukin-6, and interferon-γ. These results indicate that curcumin derivatives inhibit IAVby blocking neuraminidase in the cellular model and curcuminalso has anti-IAV activity in the animal model.

Percutaneous Endoscopic Interbody Debridement and Fusion for Pyogenic Lumbar Spondylodiskitis: Surgical Technique and the Comparison With Percutaneous Endoscopic Drainage and Debridement

Po-Ju Lai,Sheng-Fen Wang,Tsung-Ting Tsai,Yun-Da Li,Ping-Yeh Chiu,Ming-Kai Hsieh,Fu-Cheng Kao 대한척추신경외과학회 2021 Neurospine Vol.18 No.4

Objective: Surgical treatment of severe infectious spondylodiskitis remains challenging. Although minimally invasive percutaneous endoscopic drainage and debridement (PEDD) may yield good results in complicated cases, outcomes of patients with extensive structural damage and mechanical instability may be unsatisfactory. To address severe infectious spondylodiskitis, we have developed a surgical technique called percutaneous endoscopic interbody debridement and fusion (PEIDF), which comprises endoscopic debridement, bone-graft interbody fusion, and percutaneous posterior instrumentation. Methods: Outcomes of PEIDF in 12 patients and PEDD in 15 patients with infectious spondylodiskitis from April 2014 to July 2018 were reviewed retrospectively. Outcome were compared between 2 kinds of surgical procedures. Results: Patients in PEIDF group had significantly lower rate of revision surgery (8.3% vs. 58.3%), better kyphosis angle (-5.73°±8.74 vs. 1.07°±2.70 in postoperative; 7.09°±7.23 vs. 0.79°±4.08 in kyphosis correction at 1 year), and higher fusion rate (83.3% vs. 46.7%) than those who received PEDD. Conclusion: PEIDF is an effective approach for treating infectious spondylodiskitis, especially in patients with spinal instability and multiple medical comorbidities.

Vocal Effort Detection Based on Spectral Information Entropy Feature and Model Fusion

( Hao Chao ),( Bao-yun Lu ),( Yong-li Liu ),( Hui-lai Zhi ) 한국정보처리학회 2018 Journal of information processing systems Vol.14 No.1

Vocal effort detection is important for both robust speech recognition and speaker recognition. In this paper, the spectral information entropy feature which contains more salient information regarding the vocal effort level is firstly proposed. Then, the model fusion method based on complementary model is presented to recognize vocal effort level. Experiments are conducted on isolated words test set, and the results show the spectral information entropy has the best performance among the three kinds of features. Meanwhile, the recognition accuracy of all vocal effort levels reaches 81.6%. Thus, potential of the proposed method is demonstrated.

Vocal Effort Detection Based on Spectral Information Entropy Feature and Model Fusion

Chao, Hao,Lu, Bao-Yun,Liu, Yong-Li,Zhi, Hui-Lai Korea Information Processing Society 2018 Journal of information processing systems Vol.14 No.1

Vocal effort detection is important for both robust speech recognition and speaker recognition. In this paper, the spectral information entropy feature which contains more salient information regarding the vocal effort level is firstly proposed. Then, the model fusion method based on complementary model is presented to recognize vocal effort level. Experiments are conducted on isolated words test set, and the results show the spectral information entropy has the best performance among the three kinds of features. Meanwhile, the recognition accuracy of all vocal effort levels reaches 81.6%. Thus, potential of the proposed method is demonstrated.

Bonded-cluster simulation of tool-rock interaction using advanced discrete element method

Weiji Liu,Xiaohua Zhu,Yun-Lai Zhou,Tao Li,Xiangning Zhang 국제구조공학회 2019 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.72 No.4

The understanding of tool-rock interaction mechanism is of high essence for improving the rock breaking efficiency and optimizing the drilling parameters in mechanical rock breaking. In this study, the tool-rock interaction models of indentation and cutting are carried out by employing the discrete element method (DEM) to examine the rock failure modes of various brittleness rocks and critical indentation and cutting depths of the ductile to brittle failure mode transition. The results show that the cluster size and inter-cluster to intra-cluster bond strength ratio are the key factors which influence the UCS magnitude and the UCS to BTS ratio. The UCS to BTS strength ratio can be increased to a more realistic value using clustered rock model so that the characteristics of real rocks can be better represented. The critical indentation and cutting depth decrease with the brittleness of rock increases and the decreasing rate reduces dramatically against the brittleness value. This effort may lead to a better understanding of rock breaking mechanisms in mechanical excavation, and may contribute to the improvement in the design of rock excavation machines and the related parameters determination.

Characters of Bulb Development and Absorption of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium Element in Lilium davidii var. unicolor

Hong Mei Sun,Yun Fei Li,Tian Lai Li 한국원예학회 2006 한국원예학회 기타간행물 Vol.- No.-

Acoustic Radiation and Dynamic Study of a Steel Beam Damped with Viscoelastic Material

Quanmin Liu,Xiaozhen Li,Peipei Xu,Linya Liu,Yun-Lai Zhou 대한토목학회 2020 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.24 No.7

Steel structures subject to dynamic loads are prior to generate excessive vibration and noise. Viscoelastic treatment is an effective measure to mitigate the vibration and noise from thin-walled structures in a broad frequency range. H-shaped steel beams are widely used in civil engineering. So an experiment system is established and a series of impact hammer tests are conducted to assess the modal parameters, dynamic response and acoustic behaviour of an H-shaped steel beam coated with various viscoelastic treatments. Firstly, the spectra of the velocity response and acoustic radiation of the bare beam are analysed based on the tested data. Secondly, the resonance frequencies and modal loss factors of the beam with various viscoelastic treatments derived from the frequency response function are compared. Finally, the effect of the layout and thickness of viscoelastic patches on the mitigation of vibration and noise is discussed experimentally. It is shown that the modal loss factor of the first mode increases from 0.012 to 0.191 when the web is treated with 5 mm thick constrained layer damping (CLD). The viscoelastic patches on the web of the H-shaped beam are more effective to control the vibration and noise of the beam than the patches on the flanges. The viscoelastic treatment has distinct effect on the reduction of structural vibration and noise owing to the different dominant frequencies of vibration and noise as well as the frequency-dependent radiation efficiency. The normal velocity level of the H-shaped beam with an 8 mmthick web can be reduced by more than 10 dB and the sound pressure level around the beam about 8 dB when the web is partially covered with the constrained layer damping composed of 2.0 mm thick damping layer and 3.0 mm thick constraining layer.